VnExpress International reports that Vietnam has issued an updated list of used digital products that may not be imported, and that it takes effect on 1 January 2027. The list is set out in Circular 63, which the Ministry of Science and Technology issued on 27 October. The report does not give the circular's year or full title.
The restriction is on imports. VnExpress International's report does not say that owning, selling or using a used device already in Vietnam becomes illegal, and it does not address those questions at all.
The circular lists the banned products by their Harmonized System (HS) codes. VnExpress International says the list covers computers, smartphones and equipment that sends or receives sound, images or data over wired or wireless networks. It also names microphones, speakers, headphones, digital and television cameras, broadcasting and receiving equipment, radar, navigation devices, radio remote controls, monitors and projectors.
Electronic components are covered too, including printed circuits, integrated circuits, electronic tubes, electrical and fibre-optic cables, and telephone and telegraph cables. So are used parts, accessories and component assemblies of the listed products.
Refurbished devices are barred if their HS codes are on the list. The circular defines a refurbished product as a used item that has been repaired or given replacement parts so that its function, quality and appearance reach "a condition equivalent to new", according to the report.
There are exceptions. Multicolour digital printers and photocopiers are not on the list. Used black-and-white digital printers and photocopiers are exempt if they can print or copy on A0 paper, or produce 35 or more A4 pages a minute.
Used production lines, machinery and equipment that directly serve semiconductor chip manufacturing, packaging and testing, or that are used for training and research, are also not banned if they meet set conditions. The report does not say what those conditions are.
VnExpress International says the new list keeps many device groups from a 2018 list of banned used information technology products, issued by the former Ministry of Information and Communications. It describes smartphones more explicitly than the 2018 list did, and the printer exemption, the refurbished-device ban and the used-parts ban were already part of the 2018 rules.
The report does not give the specific HS codes or the penalties for breaking the rule. Importers and anyone planning to bring used electronics into Vietnam from January should check the circular's text and the HS code list before shipping.
Sources
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